The term aquaholic is commonly used to describe a person addicted to drinking water. But there are creatures that are also addicted to taking in water, not exactly to breathe it, or bodily consume it, but more to immerse in it, for the sheer love of it. These "water-loving beings", like aquatic mammals, amphibians...and some people, have aquaholic souls.
Aquaholic souls have a deep yearning to be in water. They are addicted to it. Regardless of how extensive their biological adaptations are to water (scales, webbed feet, fins, gills, or amphibious lungs), aquaholic souls are enlivened and recharged by it, and are also weakened without somehow being soaked in it. This is because it is their nature, the element of their essence.
Of course, submerging in a bathtub for hours, bathing in the rain, swimming in a pool, and lounging on a jacuzzi--all qualify as among the regular activities that a "water person" would have. But these are only improvisations, superficial remedies to the "water yearning" felt from deep inside. Real replenishment comes from "true water". Even the rain, rivers, and lakes are but extended brushings...ways for "true water" to stretch out to such souls. All fresh water bodies come from the ultimate source, the only true water, the ocean, the great "soup of life".
The Philippines, a tropical archipelago, with its 7,641 islands, with probably the longest discontinuous coastline in the world, is a paradise for aquaholic souls. It is the perfect place for "water people" who comprise a considerable demographic of the Philippines' tourist market. In fact, countless travelers, from far away countries, have fallen in love with the Philippines beaches and warm, azure waters, that they could not stop raving about this watery Eden. Most choose to keep coming back, while others just suddenly decide they never want to leave. Ask them why, and they can't even stop counting the reasons.
Just a 3-hour drive from Manila, plus about an hour by boat, the Verde Island Passage, near Mindoro, is an incredible cradle of marine life, considered the most biodiverse in world. So one can imagine just how vital are the waters in this area, that so many marine species thrive here at the same time. It isn't just beautiful. It's also very rich. Snorkeling here is an experience many describe as nothing short of fantastic. And it's only one way for aquaholic souls to enjoy this country.
If you are a true blue aquaholic, you can actually be overwhelmed by the many ways you could revitalize in the Philippines. Scuba-Dive in the majestic Tubbataha Reef. Snorkel with whale sharks in Cebu. Frolic with dolphins in Bohol. Go surfing in La Union or Siargao. Dip in a plethora of beaches, like the ones in Boracay and El Nido, that are ranked the most beautiful in the world. Go sailing in Puerto Galera, and swim in every beach you anchor at during an island-hopping sea adventure. Or get tugged by a speedboat and absorb fresh ocean splash on a water-ski, wake-board, banana boat, or fly- fish, and experience firsthand how our archipelago is indeed a water wonderland. But truly, the ways have never been counted yet, for perhaps they can never be.
